Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The New Definition of Tolerance

A Michigan high school canceled a speech by former Sen. Rick
Santorum after teachers became outraged over his opposition to gay marriage and
threatened to stage protests and a possible work stoppage.

You heard that right – The school district’s TEACHERS threatened
to stage protests! And we are supposed to believe their morals, world view, bias and
principles do not influence or taint their jobof teaching other people’s
children - our children?

Rick Santorum commented – It’s a sad day when liberal
educators are allowed to influence young minds – but those same educators will only respect or extend free speech rights to those who share their liberal
views.

The local chapter of Young America’s Foundation, told Fox
News they were very disappointed in the decision to cancel Santorum’s address. Langston
Bowens, 18, the president of the YAF chapter, told Fox News that he’s not
surprised by the campus outrage.

“They flooded my principal’s office and complained about how
this bigoted, racist homophobic speaker was going to come to our school,” he
said. “They were very offended. They threatened protests. They threatened not
to show up to work – because he’s a conservative.”

Bowens said the young conservative student worked hard to
raise the money to bring Santorum to campus and the school’s principal actually
signed off on the address.

It was the superintendent, he said, that pulled the plug.

Bowens & Santorum

In Michigan - Grosse Pointe school district spokesperson
Rebecca Fannon couldn't immediately be reached for comment. She told Patch.com –
“activities
held during the school day should be politically neutral”. News-Flash
Ms. Fannon – Marriage is not at its core a ‘Political’ subject or policy. This
quite frankly is a cop-out. Can you imagine if a former or current politician
such as Abraham Lincoln had been asked to refrain from talking about slavery in
a speech because it was considered by some to be fundamentally political in nature?
That is just an excuse by Ms. Fannon to evade the issue or worse to silence
those she may disagree with.

They said - “Most of the teachers were outraged by some of
the senator’s statements about marriage,” he said. “The superintendent took
these concerns very seriously and said he found Mr. Santorum’s stances on
marriage very divisive and extreme.”

That is worth repeating – The superintendent of the school
district believes that to hold to a traditional definition of marriage is “extreme”
– Wow!

Thomas Harwood, superintendent of the Gross Pointe Public
School System, did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

So much for
tolerance!

It is nothing less than a “Mind Exploding Amazement” to me
that even though we have study after study; research upon research - that
clearly supports the traditional ideas and purposes of marriage are primarily
about family, children and a healthy society; we are told weare not allowed to talk publicly about it.
This beyond stupid.

Yes - marriage is also about love and devotion – we can
certainly make the case that two people can be ‘in love’ – and devoted to one
another outside of marriage. Heterosexual, homosexual, transgender – it does
not matter the group – here in American we are free to pledge our love and
devotion to another. We can even talk about or make a case for ‘civil union
laws’ and if those should be extended to same-sex marriage couples (much debate
to be had here).

So what is the government’s main purpose for endorsing
marriage? What ends are they trying to accomplish? Contrary to what homosexual activists
assume, the government does not endorse marriage because two people love one
another. There is no little box on a marriage license that you must check
labeled “in love.”

While it is true that we often associate marriage with love,
the primary reason the government endorses marriage is because it brings the
country as a whole tremendous benefits—it is the best way to produce children
and propagate a civilized and stable society. Homosexual unions by nature
cannot do that, and equating the two types of relationships diminishes the
connection people make between marriage and childbearing.

What about
tolerance?

There is no denying it – we are most certainly in a full
blown Raging War of Ideas. At the core of the battle is a complete ‘Re-definition’
of the word ‘Tolerance’.

interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices,
etc., foreign to one's own

Tolerance, which was once understood to mean putting up with
something you don’t necessary like, and having a willingness to hear others out
or show them respect even though you disagree with them, - has been replaced
with a new definition that espouses that all views are equally valid – and it
is wrong to object otherwise. This redefined view has become a potent weapon
wielded by cultural relativists to convince the American public that tolerance; rather than objective truth, ought to be embraced as the highest value in our
society.

This intellectual devolution has brought considerable
destruction to the traditional Christian morals (including the tradition
definition and purpose of marriage) and is reshaping the American life with moral
passivity and indifference.

Overall, our society is shifting towards a personalized
truth – what is often now called‘Truthi-ness’
- and an unorthodox form of living.
Behind the mask of new tolerance lies a destructive ideology that rejects all
objective truth, morals and absolute standards. Tolerance of this brand is a
byproduct of cultural relativism. This new ideology is steadily replacing
absolute truth, moral values and duties. If America remains on this course,
there will be no place for truth at all; no place for absolutes; no place for
Christianity; and certainly no place for the ultimate truth of God’s Word, the
Bible.

I think we can now demonstrably prove that these so-called “Bastions
of Tolerance” are so blind to their own in-tolerance that they can no longer be
trusted to educate our children. They refuse to believe or realize that they
themselves are overwhelmingly guilty of the same intolerant behavior they
accuse others of. It is most certainly intolerant to refuse to let someone speak
or engage them in debate simply because you disagree with them.

Grosse Pointe school
district spokesperson Rebecca Fannon couldn't immediately be reached for
comment.

She told Patch.com the
event was cancelled after officials asked for a copy of Santorum's speech and
did not receive one.

She also said, according
to the Patch report, that activities held during the school day should be
politically neutral, pointing out that Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1968 speech at
the school, which was protested by about 200 right-wing picketers outside the
building, was held after school hours.